Ps 34 Franklin D Roosevelt, New York NY

Original Research by School Decision on Ps 34 Franklin D Roosevelt

PS 34 Franklin D Roosevelt is a small, neighborhood elementary and middle school on the Lower East Side serving prekindergarten through eighth grade. The school sits within a dense, mixed-use urban neighborhood where retail and apartments share blocks, and where pedestrian life and public transit shape daily movement. The school itself is woven into the local fabric, not set apart on a campus.

The enrollment is modest and highly economically disadvantaged. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black. The grade distribution is fairly even across the school's span, with slightly larger cohorts in the primary grades and a notable bump in seventh grade. No data on special education or English learner identification rates were available.

Academic performance is notably low across tested grades and subjects. In mathematics, proficiency rates decline sharply as students move up: third grade shows moderate success, but by fifth and sixth grade proficiency drops to single digits. English language arts shows a similar pattern, with proficiency ranging from roughly one-third to one-half in the lower-middle grades but dipping below half throughout. Science proficiency in fifth grade is also low. The school did not report eighth-grade mathematics or science testing results, which typically occurs when the cohort is very small or not tested in those subjects at this school.

Because PS 34 sits in District 1, which has no zoned elementary or middle schools, there is no automatic enrollment. All families must enter a choice process. This district also pioneered a "Diversity in Admissions" model that gives priority to students from low-income families, English language learners, and those in temporary housing or the child welfare system, making it easier for the city's most under-resourced families to access a seat if they apply. A parent may want to look into this further with the school and the district to understand exactly how the choice and priority system works and what likelihood of placement exists for their family.

The surrounding neighborhood is highly walkable and well-served by public transit. New York City's subway provides access to parks, services, and diverse neighborhoods across the city. Mixed-use blocks integrate schools with local shops, restaurants, and residential buildings, creating active street life. The area has been part of sustained housing growth, though housing costs are well above state and national averages.

State testing data for social studies is not available from recent years. The only such results in the data are from 2009-10, now more than a decade old, and thus not a reliable indicator of current performance.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

New York Regents Exams

2 courses reported · 2024-25

End-of-course exams required for a New York Regents diploma. Each row shows the cohort size and the share of students scoring at the proficient level or higher.

Course	Students tested	% proficient
Math	22	36.0%
Science	21	19.0%

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 68% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 67% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 58% · ▼ 43 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 56% · ▼ 50 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 70% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 53% · ▼ 53 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 67% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 68% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 66% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 57% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 66% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 63% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 49% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 35% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 567%

School 67% · district not reported

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · district not reported

▼ 65 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

This schoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT # 1, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.